Wrapping machines



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 29, 1952 max/115w Oct. 11, 1955 1.. BROOKWRAPPING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 29, 1952 INVENTOR Oct.11, 1955 L. BROOK 2,720,069

WRAPPING MACHINES I VEIVTO za MW; Q 2am HTTU/Q/VEYb Oct. 11, 1955L.-BROOK WRAPPING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 29, 1952 nVENTOR 5 swa 40/1; M vzaazrm United States Patent (9 WRAPPING MACHINESLeonard Brook, Beeston, Leeds, England, assignor to The ForgroveMachinery Company Limited, Leeds, Yorkshire, England, a company of GreatBritain Application April 29, 1952, Serial No. 284,996

6 Claims. (Cl. 53-126) This invention relates to bunch wrapping machinesof the type in which articles are lifted in succession by a liftingplunger from a feed disc, each carrying a wrapper with it, through ahole, preferably lined with an annular brush, and into grippers carriedby an intermittently rotating carrier head. The passage of the articlethrough the hole drapes the wrapper around it in the form of a cup openat its lower end and a first folder operates, after the article has beenreceived by the grippers and the lifting plunger has retired, to foldthe downwardly depending wing of wrapper at one side of the articleagainst the base thereof. The carrier head then moves, carrying thearticle over a fixed folder plate which folds the rest of the dependingportion of the wrapper against the base of the article.

It is customary in such machines to use wrappers of waxed paper or otherheat sealing material and to provide a heater which is brought intocontact with the base of the article to heat seal the pleats of wrapperfolded against the base. It is necessary thereafter to cool the heatedportions of the wrapper and provision has been made, in a bunch Wrappingmachine in which the articles are discharged from the carrier head at astation immediately following the sealing station, for a cooling pad tobe moved into contact with the base of the article as it is dischargedfrom the carrier head on to a travelling belt located slightly below thecarrier head. This is not wholly satisfactory because the pleats of thewrapper have not been cooled sufliciently by the time they arrive at thedischarge station to obviate all risk of disturbance of the pleats.Moreover, it is in conflict with the recognised practice that, inwrapping machines required to handle articles of irregular shape, thehold of the carrier head or other grippers on the article should bemaintained until wrapping is completed.

According to the invention, wrapping of the articles is completed on thecarrier head, which is arranged to move the articles in succession to aheating station and then to a cooling station on their way from thestation at which they are loaded into the carrier head to the station atwhich they are discharged from the carrier head, and the machineincludes a heater at the heating station and a cooling pad at thecooling station which are raised simultaneously into contact with thebases of the articles at their respectively stations by mechanismderiving movement from a single cam. Preferably, top pressers, derivingmovement from the same cam, are brought into contact with the upperfaces of the articles at the heating and cooling stations simultaneouslywith the movement of the heater and cooling pad against their bases.This ensures eflective wrapping and the formation of an effective heatseal.

By completing the Wrapping on the carrier head, I ensure that the pleatswill have cooled suiiiciently by the time the article reaches thedischarge station to obviate any risk of disturbance of the pleatsduring discharge of the article, and I prefer to arrange for the articleto be brought by the carrier head to two successive ice coolingstations, at each of which a cooling pad is pressed against the base ofthe article.

One embodiment of bunch wrapping machine for confectionery according tothe invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the carrier head and of the associated heatingand cooling mechanism,

Fig. 2 is a section on the line IIII in Fig. 1, but with the carrierhead omitted,

Fig. 3 is a section on the line III-III in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a view of part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3, but with thetrip mechanism engaged, and

Fig. 5 is a side view of the heater and associated mechanism.

Like reference characters designate like parts throughout the figures.

The machine is of the construction described in U. S. application SerialNo. 283,332, now Patent No. 2,676,441, and comprises a carrier head 10,carrying six pairs of grippers 11. The grippers 11 are pivotally mountedon the carrier head and are urged to closed position by springs 12. Thecarrier head 10 is suspended, by a tubular shaft 13, from a top gearbox, not shown, but supported by a pillar 14 (Figs. 1 and 2) extendingupwardly from the machine frame 15. A Geneva mechanism in the top gearbox imparts intermittent rotation to the tubular shaft 13 to move thegrippers 11 successively to stations A, B, C, D, E and P (Fig. 1).

At the loading station A a tablet 16 to be wrapped and a Wrapper, ofwaxed paper or other heat sealing material, are lifted by a cooperatinglifting plunger and top plunger through a brush and into the grippers 11dwelling at station A, this mechanism being described in U. S.application Serial No. 283,332, new Patent No, 2,676,441. The wrapper isthus draped partly around the tablet. A gripper opening cam 17 coactswith followers 18 associated with the grippers 11 and maintains thegrippers at station A open while the tablet is being lifted to positionbetween them. The cam 17 is then rocked in relation to the shaft 13, bya link 19 actuated by a cam, as described in U. S. application SerialNo. 283,334, now Patent No. 2,643,500, to cause the grippers to close onthe tablet. A shaft 20, nested within the shaft 17, is then rocked byanother cam to cause a first folder to move across the base of thetablet held by a gripper at station A, to fold a part of the dependingwrapper against the base of the tablet. The carrier head 10 then movesto carry the tablet to station B. During this movement the base of thetablet is moved over a fixed folder plate which folds the remainingdepending portion of the wrapper against the base. Station B is an idlestation, but further rotation of the carrier head 10 brings the tabletin succession to stations C, D and E and finally to a discharge stationF. During its passage to stations C, D and E the base of the tablet istraversed along a stationary plate 21.

At station C, a heater 22 (see also Fig. 5) is lifted against the baseof the tablet to heat seal the pleats formed in the wrapper foldedagainst said base, and at the same time a top presser 23 (Fig. l) ispressed against the top of the tablet. At station D, a cooling pad 24 islifted against the base of the tablet and a top presser 25 is loweredinto contact with its top surface. At station E, a cooling pad 26 israised into contact with the base of the tablet. The gripper jawsdwelling at stations C, D and E are omitted from Fig. l for clarity.When the tablet reaches the discharge station F, the grippers 11 areopened by the cam 17 and a cam operated ejector 27 ejects the wrappedtablet into a discharge chute, not shown. If desired a top presser canbe added at the second cooling station E.

PatentedO'ct. 11, 1955' Movement is imparted to the heating and coolingmechanisms at stations C, D and E by the mechanism now to be described.This mechanism is shown, in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5, in the position whichit occupies when the heating and cooling members have been moved totheir operative positions.

A cam 28, Fig. 3, in a bottom gear box, coacts with a follower 29 on alever 30, pivotally mounted at 31 and formed at its upper end with gearteeth 32. The gear teeth 32 mesh with a quadrant 33 fixed to a spindle34. Fixed to the spindle 34 is an arm 35, and loose on the spindle 34 isan arm 36 pivoted, at 37, to a link 38. A compression spring 39, in acurved pocket between the arms 35, 36, serves to drive the arm 36 fromthe arm 35 when the latter is rocked anti-clockwise, to the positionshown in Fig. 3. On the return, or clockwise, stroke of the arm 35, thearm 36 is returned positively by a lug 40 on the arm 35 which coactswith a screw 41 projecting from the arm 36. The link 38 serves, as laterdescribed, to actuate the heating and cooling mechanism, and the spring39 drives the link 38 in the direction to move the heater 22 towards thearticle at the heating station C and can yield in the event ofobstruction to movement of the heater 22 or other parts operated by thelink 38.

The link 38 is connected by a pin 43 to an arm 42 fixed to a shaft 44.To the shaft 44 is fixed an arm 46 carrymg the top presser 25 at thefirst cooling station D, a spring 47 being disposed between the toppresser 25 and the arm 46. Movement of the link 38 to the left as seenin Fig. 3, rocks the shaft 44 clockwise to lower the top presser 25 tothe position shown.

The top presser 23 at the heating station C (Fig. 1) is carried by anarm 48 fixed to a spindle 49, carrying an arm 50 (see also Fig. 2)connected, by a link 51, to an arm 52 fixed to the shaft 44. Whentherefore the shaft '44 is rocked clockwise, as seen in Fig. 3, to lowerthe top presser 25 it also lowers the top presser 23.

The bottom cooler pads 24, 26 receive a considerably smaller movementthan the top pressers 23, 25 and this movement is imparted to themthrough a linkage shown most clearly in Fig. 3. An arm 53 fixed to theshaft 44 is connected by a pin 54 to an arm 56 pivoted at to the machineframe and joined, by a pin 57 to a link 58 coupled, by a pin 59, to anarm 60 fixed to a shaft 61. The cooler pad 26 at the second coolingstation E is mounted on an arm 62 fixed to the shaft 61. Clockwisemovement of the shaft 44, as seen in Fig. 3, is thus effective torockthe shaft 61 counter-clockwise and therefore to raise the cooler pad 26to the position shown in Fig. 3.

The cooler pad 24 at the first cooling station D is carried by an arm63, mounted to turn on a centre 64 and fixed to an arm 65 pivoted, by apin 66, to a link 67 pivoted at its other end by a pin 159 (Fig. l) toan arm 160 fixed to the shaft 61. The cooler pad 24 will therefore moveup with the cooler pad 26.

As shown in Fig. 5, the heater 22 is supported by a bracket 68containing twin electrically heated cartridges 45 and pivoted by a pin69 to an upstanding bracket 70 on the machine frame. A spring 71disposed between the brackets 68, 70 tends to lift the heater 22 to theposition shown in Fig. 5. The bracket 68 carries a screw 72 which coactswith a tappet 73 projecting downwardly from an arm 74 fixed to the endof the shaft 61 (see Fig. 1). When the shaft 61 rocks anti-clockwise, tothe positron shown in Fig. 3, to raise the cooler pads 24, 26 the tappet73 is lifted, allowing the spring 71 to lift the heater 22 to theoperative position shown in Fig. 5. On clockwise movement of the shaft61 to lower the cooler pads 24, 26 the tappet 73 depresses the screw 72,so moving the heater 22 away from the base of the tablet at the heatingstation C.

The machine includes an electrically controlled trip mechanism,described more fully in U. S. application Serial No. 284,995, now PatentNo. 2,639,568, which serves in the event of current being cut off froman electric motor driving the machine, to prevent the arm 36 (Fig. 3)from moving sufficiently to bring the heater 22 into contact with thebase of the tablet at the heating station C.

A solenoid 75 is connected in parallel with the motor across the motorsupply terminals and its armature 76 is connected to a bell crank lever77 pivotally mounted at 78. When the machine is running the solenoid isenergised and the bell crank 77 is held in a position, shown in Fig. 3,in which a catch piece 79 on its free end is clear of a trip piece 80fixed to the arm 36. As soon as the current supply to the motor isinterrupted, the solenoid is tie-energised and the bell crank 77 isrocked by a spring 81 to the position shown in Fig. 4. The machine willalways overrun by at least one cycle after the stop button has beenpressed, and this will ensure that the catch piece 79 can engage a notch82 in the trip piece 80, as shown in Fig. 4, and so prevent the arm 36from following the movement imparted to the arm 35. The heater 22 isthus prevented from rising to its operative position.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a bunch wrapping machine, the combination with a carrier headmounted to rotate on a vertical axis and carrying a plurality of pairsof grippers for receiving in succession at a loading station articles,each with a wrapper draped around it in the form of a cup open at itslower end, of folding means for folding the dependent pleats of wrapperagainst the bases of the articles, means for imparting intermittentrotation to said carrier head to bring the wrapped articles insuccession to a heating station, a heater at said heating station, afirst cooling station, a second cooling station and a discharge station,a pair of cooling pads one located at each cooling station, a pair oftop pressers, one located at the heating station and the other at thefirst cooling station, a cam and mechanism operable by said cam, whilesaid carrier head is dwelling, for simultaneously moving said heater andsaid cooling pads upwards and said top pressers downwards into contactwith the articles at their respective stations and thereafter retractingsaid heater, said cooling pads and said top pressers from said articles.

2. In a bunch wrapping machine, the combination with a carrier headmounted to rotate on a vertical axis and carrying a plurality of pairsof grippers for receiving in succession at a loading station articles,each with a wrapper draped around it in the form of a cup open at itslower end, of folding means for folding the dependent pleats of wrapperagainst the bases of the articles, means for imparting intermittentrotation to said carrier head to bring the wrapped articles insuccession to a heating station, a cooling station and a dischargestation, a heater at the heating station, a cooling pad at the coolingstation, a cam, a shaft, a linkage coupling said shaft to said coolingpad, mechanism operable by said cam, while said carrier head is dwellingto rock said shaft to and fro and thereby through said linkage to movesaid cooling pad into and out of contact with the base of the article atthe cooling station, a spring urging said heater into position tocontact the base of the article at the heating station, and a tappet onsaid shaft for normally retaining the heater in inoperative position,said tappet freeing the heater for movement to operative position whensaid shaft is rocked.

3. In an electrically driven bunch wrapping machine, a combination asclaimed in claim 2, comprising a yielding connection for impartingrocking movement to said shaft from said cam, and a normally ineffectiveelectrically controlled trip mechanism arranged, on stoppage of themachine, to intercept said shaft and retain said tappet in position tohold said heater in inoperative position.

4. In a bunch wrapping machine, the combination with a carrier headmounted to rotate on a vertical axis and carrying a plurality of pairsof grippers for receiving in succession at a loading station articles,each with a wrapper draped around it in the form of a cup open at itslower end, of folding means for folding the dependent pleats of wrapperagainst the bases of the articles, means for imparting intermittentrotation to said carrier head to bring the wrapped articles insuccession to a heating station, a cooling station and a dischargestation, a heater at the heating station, a cooling pad at the coolingstation, a cam, and mechanism operable by said cam, while said carrierhead is dwelling, for moving said heater and cooling pad simultaneouslyinto contact with the bases of the articles at their respective stationsand thereafter lowering said heater and cooling pad to inoperativepositions, said cam-operated mechanism comprising a pair of arms mountedto turn on a common center, means actuated by the cam for impartingpositive rocking movement to one of said arms, an operative connectionbetween the other arm and the heater and cooling pad which is effectiveon rocking movement of said other arm, to cause movement of the heaterand cooling pad to and from operative position, a spring connecting saidarms and constituting a driving connection therebetween for moving theheater and cooling pad to operative position and coacting abutments onthe arms constituting a driving connection between them for moving theheater and cooling pad to inoperative position.

5. In a bunch wrapping machine, the combination with a carrier headmounted to rotate on a vertical axis and carrying a plurality of pairsof grippers for receiving in succession at a loading station articles,each with a wrapper draped around it in the form of a cup open at itslower end, of folding means for folding the dependent pleats of Wrapperagainst the bases of the articles, means for imparting intermittentrotation to said carrier head to bring the wrapped articles insuccession to a heating station, a cooling station and a dischargestation, a heater at the heating station, a cooling pad at the coolingstation, a pair of top pressers, one located at the heating station andthe other located at the cooling station, a cam, and mechanism operableby said cam, while said carrier head is dwelling, for simultaneouslymoving said heater and said cooling pad upwards and said top pressersdownwards into contact with the articles at their respective stationsand thereafter retracting said heater, said cooling pad and said toppressers from said articles, said cam operated mechanism comprising afirst shaft, an arm fixed to said shaft carrying the top presser at thecooling station, a further arm on said shaft for imparting movement tothe top presser at the heating: station, means operable by the cam forrocking said shaft to and fro, a second shaft linked to and arranged torock with said first shaft, a tappet on said second shaft for normallyretaining the heater in inoperative position, said heater being movableby spring action into operative position on rocking of said secondshaft, a third shaft linked to and arranged to rock with said secondshaft and an arm fixed to said third shaft and carrying the cooling pad.

6. In a bunch wrapping machine, the combination -with a carrier headmounted to rotate on a vertical axis and carrying a plurality of pairsof grippers for receiving in succession at a loading station articles,each with a Wrapper draped around it in the form of a cup open at itslower end, of folding means for folding the dependent pleats of wrapperagainst the bases of the articles, means for imparting intermittentrotation to said carrier head to bring the wrapped articles insuccession to a heating station, a cooling station and a dischargestation, a heater at the heating station, a cooling pad at the coolingstation, a pair of unheated top pressers, one located at the heatingstation and the other located at the cooling station, a cam, andmechanism operable by said cam, while said carrier head is dwelling, forsimultaneously moving said heater and said cooling pad upwards and saidtop pressers downwards into contact with the articles at theirrespective stations and thereafter retracting said heater, said coolingpad and said top pressers from said articles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,217,694 Bracy Feb. 27, 1917 1,590,208 Rundell June 29, 1926 1,626,378Armstrong Apr. 26, 1927 2,196,666 Moore Apr. 9, 1940 2,332,096 McGinleyOct. 19, 1943 2,357,786 Wells Sept. 5, 1944

